Container which completely encloses articles

ABSTRACT

A carton or container which fully encloses the contained articles. The carton has finger holes placed along one side edge of the carton allowing one of the articles to be grasped when the carton is carried by use of the finger holes. There are no cutouts for the caps or base of the articles, so that the container tightly encloses them. The container has a design which allows the container blanks to be nested on the web prior to cutting.

United States Patentlnventors Joseph F. Schillinger Chicago;

Thomas B. Moser, Glen Ellyn, Ill. 848,402

July 28, 1969 May 1 l, 1971 Weyerhaeuser Company Tacoma, Wash.

Continuation of application Ser. No.

710,120, Mar. 4, 1968, now abandoned.

Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee CONTAINER WHICH COMPLETELY ENCLOSESARTICLES l 1 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 229/40, 206/65, 220/1 15 Int. Cl B65d 5/02, B65d 85/00 Field ofSearch 229/40, 52 (BC); 206/65 (C); 220/1 15 References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 2/1962 Morris 229/8 4/1965 Champlin 206/65(C) 5/1966Pryor 229/40 FOREIGN PATENTS 5/1956 Belgium 229/40 PrimaryExaminer-David M. Bockenek Attorneys-Leslie G. Noller, John M. Crawfordand Kenneth W. Vernon ABSTRACT: A carton or container which fullyencloses the contained articles. The carton has finger holes placedalong one si e edge of the carton allowing one of the articles to begrasped when the carton is carried, by use of the finger holes. Thereare no cutouts for the caps or base of the articles, so that thecontainer tightly encloses them. The container has a design which allowsthe container blanks to be nested on the web prior to cutting.

m V Patehted May 11, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS JOSEPH /FSCHULUNGEI? I moms 5: os/5R 44; mlz-L & fit M firomvsys are then gluedtothe flanges.

l CONTAINER wiucu COMPLETELY ENCLOSES ARTICLES RELATED CASES This is acontinuation of application Ser. No. 7l0,-l20 filed Mar. 4, I968, nowabandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention A container whichencloses a multiplicity of similar articles.

2. Description of the Prior Art I Exemplary of the patents showingcontainers which fully enclose articles are Ringler U.S. Pat. No.2,705,556; Currie U.S. Pat. No. 2,795,365; .Iaeschke U.S. Pat. No.2,797,856; Chidsey U.S. Pat. No. 3,217,924; Graser et al. U.S. Pat. No.3,252,649; and Wood U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,723.

Ringler U.S. Pat. No. 2,705,556 discloses a container in which thebottom and sidewalls are of unitary construction and each of the endwalls is formed of a pair of elements which are hingedly attached to thesidewalls. These elements are glued along a vertical line in the centerof the container. When the container is opened the bottles are placed init from the top and the upper panels are folded down over the caps ofthe containers.

Currie U.S. Pat. No. 2,795,365 discloses a can container in which thesidewalls and end walls are of unitary construction and, when opened,slide down over the articles. Each of the upper and lower walls isfomied of two sections. These sections are hingedly attached to thesidewalls and fold-over the upper and lower walls of the containers andare adhered Jaeschke us. Pat. No. 2,797,856 discloses a coritainer whichthe body section wraps around the articles. Flanges are attached to eachpanel of the body section; and are folded inwardly and aligned with theedge of the container. End panels Graser et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,294,280discloses a container for fully enclosing the articles andin which theend panels are hingedly attached to the upper wall of the container by atriangular gusset section. The blank shown in FIG. 1 is complicated andcostly.

Wood U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,723 discloses a container which fully enclosesthe articles and in which each of the end walls is in three parts.

Conrades U.S. Pat. No. 3,186,545 discloses a container for fullyenclosing bottles and in whichthe container is side opening nd'sidefilling. The form of the container requires a complica d gusset sectionat the top corners.

shown at 24.

FIG. 2 is a view of a partial section of a web showing the sidewalls andend walls nested on the web.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view with portions cut away showing the fullyformed container.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the container showing the use. of thefinger holes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A blank is divided by scorelines 11, I2, 13 and 14 into a side panel 15, a top panel 16, a sidewallpanel 17, a bottom panel 18, and a lower sidewall panel 19. Lower endwall panels are hingedly attached to bottom panel 18 by score lines 21',and upper end wall panels 22 are hingedly attached to top panel 16 byscore lines 23.

In the finished container the lower edge of the side and end wallsbevels outwardly to grasp the contained articles. To aid this action,score lines 23 are provided in the lower section of the sidewalls l7 and19 and the lower end walls 20. Score lines 23 are parallel to the loweredges of the side and end walls and are spaced upwardly a slightdistance from the lower edges. The edges of the side and end walls 17,19 and 20 bevel outwardly between the lower edge and the score line 23.This is The four upper corners of the container have a similarconstruction, but the additional score line has been omitted from theupper end of the container. The upper comer construction is shown at 25.

The blanks can be nested. on the web in order to obtain a a greaternumber of cartons from a given web size. The nesting together. Theblanks also nest on the web, as is shown in FIG.

- Each of the disclosed bottle containers requires cutouts for ofseparate pieces when forming the container. It is of simple 3construction and eliminates all gussets and other complicated structure,allowing the container to be formed more cheaply and easily. It hasoffcenter fingerholes which-allow one of the articles within thecontainer to begrasped when carrying the container. It is taperedupwardly on all four sides to firmly grasp the articles and eliminatesthe need for cutouts for bottle caps. The overlapping end wall panelsare in two pieces, and

the end wall panels and-sidewall panels are designed to nest on the web.

BRIEFDESCRIP'IION osrae DRAWINGS w l is a top plan view of the blank.

is shown in FIG. 2. As may be seen, the outer edge of each of the lowerendpanels 20 is shaped to conform to the shape of the edge of side panel17, and the length of lower end panels 20 is greater than the length ofan upper endpanel, allowing the length of panel 20 to set the distancebetween blanks. In a bottle carrier, side panel 17 tapers upwardly andthe outer edge of panel 20 is shaped to conform to this taper.

In forming the package, the container is wrapped around the containedarticles and the lower side flapl9 is adhered to the side panel 15 alongglue line 26. Lower end flaps 20 are pivoted upwardly and upper endflaps 22 are pivoted downwardly, and the end flaps are adhered alongglue line 27. 3

The lower and upper edge construction pulls-the container tightly aroundthe articles. The side edges of the side and end the bottom panel 18allowing the container to conform to the and lower ends of the articles.

The package may be carried by use of finger holes 30. The

panels are tapered upwardly, and the top panel is smaller than fingerholes are formed by an arcuate slit 31 in the top panel I 16 and sidepanel 15. A pair of score lines 32 and 33 extend outwardly from a pointon score line 11 to each of the outer ends of slit 31. An additionalpair of score lines extend outwardly from the point to points betweenthe ends of the slit 31. One of these latter score lines coincideswithscore line 11. The outer score lines preferably are at an obtuseangle to each other and the inner score lines are at an acute angle toeach other and to the outer score lines. The exact angles will depend onthe overall taper of the carton. The flaps formed by the slit 31 and thescore lines face outwardly and are placed on each side of a centralarticle so that they may be bent inwardly toward the article and allowit to be grasped when the finger holes are used for carrying thecontainer.

The container may be opened by any standard tear strip arrangement,including the tear strip 40 shown.

We claim: I. In a blank which forms an article container, finger holeconstruction comprising a top'panel,

a side panel, hingedly attached to said top panel forming a I hingedjoint,

- a pair of arcuate slits extending across said hinge joint and intosaid top panel and said side panel,

a score line extending from each end of said slit to a common point onsaid hinge joint,

an additional pair of score lines extending from said common point topoints on the interior of said arcuate slit, one of said latter scorelines coinciding with the hinge joint.

2. The blank of claim 1 in which the slits are in the exterior edge ofthe flaps formed by said slits and said score lines 3. The blank ofclaim 2 in which said flaps are spaced from each other.

4. In a blank which forms an article container having a top panel,

a bottom panel,

a pair of side panels, and

a pair of end panels,

the improvement comprising said side panels and said end panels havingscore lines therein adjacent and parallel to the edges of said bottompanel.

5. The blank of claim 4 in which the side edges of said side panels andend panels taper outwardly from the edges of said bottom panel to saidscore line.

6. The blank of claim 4 in which one of said panels is formed by a pairof panels having a combined length greater than the length of said paneland being fixed together in said container, and one of said pair of sidepanels or end panels also comprises pairs of panels having a combinedlength greater than the length of said panel in the formed container.

7. in a blank which forms an article container having a top panel, abottom panel,

a pair of side panels, and

a pair of end panels,

the improvement comprising the length and width of said top panel beingsmaller than the length and width of said bottom panel, and the sideedges of said side panels and end panels tapering inwardly toward saidtop panel and away from said bottom panel.

8. The blank of claim 7 in which one of said panels comprises a pair ofpanels having a combined length greater than the length of said paneland being fixed together in said container, and one of said pair of sidepanels or end panels also comprises pairs of panels having a combinedlength greater than the length of said panel in the formed container.

9. The blank of claim 8 in which the outer edges of said pair I ofpanels comprising said end or side panels conform to the shape of theside edge of said undivided side or end panels whereby adjacent blankswill nest.

10. The blank of claim 7 in which said side panels and said end panelshave score lines therein adjacent and parallel to the edges of saidbottom panel, and the side edges of said side panels and end panelstaper outwardly from the edges of said bottom panel to said score lineand inwardly from said score line to said top panel. 11. The blank ofclaim 6 in which the outer edges of said pair of panels comprising saidend or side panels conform to the shape of the side edge of saidundivided side or end panels whereby adjacent blanks will nest.

Disclaimer 3,57 8,238.J0se k F. Schillinger, Chicago, and Thomas B. 1|!oser, Glen Ellyn, Ill. C(gNTAINER WHICH COMPLETELY EN OLOSES AR- TICLES.Patent dated May 11, 1971. Disclaimer filed Apr. 3, 1972, by theassignee, Weyerhaeuser Company.

Hereby enters this disclaimer to claims 7 and 8 of said patent.

[Oficz'al Gazette July 25, 1.972.]

1. In a blank which forms an article container, finger hole constructioncomprising a top panel, a side panel, hingedly attached to said toppanel forming a hinged joint, a pair of arcuate slits extending acrosssaid hinge joint and into said top panel and said side panel, a scoreline extending from each end of said slit to a common point on saidhinge joint, an additional pair of score lines extending from saidcommon point to points on the interior of said arcuate slit, one of saidlatter score lines coinciding with the hinge joint.
 2. The blank ofclaim 1 in which the slits are in the exterior edge of the flaps formedby said slits and said score lines.
 3. The blank of claim 2 in whichsaid flaps are spaced from each other.
 4. In a blank which forms anarticle container having a top panel, a bottom panel, a pair of sidepanels, and a pair of end panels, the improvement comprising said sidepanels and said end panels having score lines therein adjacent andparallel to the edges of said bottom panel.
 5. The blank of claim 4 inwhich the side edges of said side panels and end panels taper outwardlyfrom the edges of said bottom panel to said score line.
 6. The blank ofclaim 4 in which one of said panels is formed by a pair of panels havinga combined length greater than the length of said panel and being fixedtogether in said container, and one of said pair of side panels or endpanels also comprises pairs of panels having a combined length greaterthan the length of said panel in the formed container.
 7. In a blankwhich forms an article container having a top panel, a bottom panel, apair of side panels, and a pair of end panels, the improvementcomprising the length and width of said top panel being smaller than thelength and width of said bottom panel, and the side edges of said sidepanels and end panels tapering inwardly toward said top panel and awayfrom said bottom panel.
 8. The blank of claim 7 in which one of saidpanels comprises a pair of panels having a combined length greater thanthe length of said panel and being fixed together in said container, andone of said pair of side panels or end panels also comprises pairs ofpanels having a combined length greater than the length of said panel inthe formed container.
 9. The blank of claim 8 in which the outer edgesof said pair of panels comprising said end or side panels conform to theshape of the side edge of said undivided side or end panels wherebyadjacent blanks will nest.
 10. The blank of claim 7 in which said sidepanels and said end panels have score lines therein adjacent andparallel to the edges of said bottom panel, and the side edges of saidside panels and end panels taper outwardly from the edges of said bottompanel to said score line and inwardly from said score line to said toppanel.
 11. The blank of claim 6 in which the outer edges of said pair ofpanels comprising said end or side panels conform to the shape of theside edge of said undivided side or end panels whereby adjacent blankswill nest.